The Firefox browser turns five years old today. It now accounts for nearly 25% of browser usage today. Its fairly steady growth as an alternative to Internet Explorer has slowed with the release of Google’s Chrome. It will be interesting to see how Firefox changes as Chrome grows – Firefox 4.0 is around the corner and the browser competition can only benefit users.
Italian researchers have announced that they believe that they have found the missing army of Cambyses II. This army, supposedly 50,000 strong, was lost in a huge sandstorm in 525 B.C. The team of researchers have discovered a mass grave with hundreds of bones and skulls. Their discovery hinged upon a hypothesis regarding the path the army took:
In the following years, the Castiglioni brothers studied ancient maps and came to the conclusion that Cambyses’ army did not take the widely believed caravan route via the Dakhla Oasis and Farafra Oasis.
- “Since the 19th century, many archaeologists and explorers have searched for the lost army along that route. They found nothing. We hypothesized a different itinerary, coming from south. Indeed we found that such a route already existed in the 18th Dynasty,” Castiglioni said. According to Castiglioni, from El Kargha the army took a westerly route to Gilf El Kebir, passing through the Wadi Abd el Melik, then headed north toward Siwa. “This route had the advantage of taking the enemy aback. Moreover, the army could march undisturbed. On the contrary, since the oasis on the other route were controlled by the Egyptians, the army would have had to fight at each oasis,” Castiglioni said.
RSM
Ancient History Ramblings 